thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that putting things in perspective a bit. that's it for this "special report," fair, balanced and up afraid. we have it all for you. greta goes "on the record" right now. this is a fox news alert. it's changing every second. it is down to the wire, and right now you are looking live at the senate floor. senator ted cruz is speaking now, and we are awaiting that big vote in the u.s. senate on a deal to reopen the government and hike the debt ceiling or at least open it up. for the latest we go live to chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel, mike? >> well, greta, as always, your timing is perfect because we are expecting a vote in the united states senate on this compromise deal negotiated between senate majority leader harry reid and senate republican leader mitch mcconnell that would reopen the government, would extend the government's ability to borrow money until early february of next year. would create a panel to work on a long-term budgetary

solution, and would be also put as part of the president's healthcare law the ability to look at somebody's income, income verification to make sure that they deserve subsidies. and so everybody i have talked to today says it is not a perfect deal but the sense you get from a lot of folks is there is relief that there is a deal to reopen the government, so we expect the senate will take action this hour to vote this through and expect bipartisan support on that. there will certainly be some conservatives who don't support it and then it will go over to the house and we are expecting fairly quick action on their end as well. speaker boehner had a meeting, closed door meeting with his representative and essentially said we fought the good fight, but we are not going to block this from going forward. and so all indications are with heavy democratic support it should pass the house as well. greta? >> mike, thank you. and i guess that tonight the capitol is pretty busy up there. is there any indication that the house is not going to

vote for this? >> no. all indications are they will, a lot of republicans saluted the speaker's leadership, his rank and file wanted to fight this out as long as possible. they felt like the speaker had done everything that they asked of him, and so lot of show of support for speaker john boehner even though this has been a bruising fight for several weeks now. and we expect, we have heard from democratic leader nancy pelosi in the house who says that she expects strong democratic support, so they're lining up democrats to vote for this and should have plenty of votes to pass it. greta? >> mike, thanks. while the deal may be in sight senator ted cruz is speaking from the senate floor. let's listen in for just a minute. >> such incredible numbers and to see the house of representatives engage in what i consider to be a profile in courage, standing with the american people. now, a path forward, the way we are going to stop obama care. the way we are going to stop the suffering, the harms

that are being visited on millions of americans is the path we have seen these past couple of months is the measure people rising up. the answers are not going to come from washington. washington is broken. the answers are going to come from the american people. so, mr. president, i am today encouraged i am encouraged by the millions of americans who want to get back to our free market principle. get back to the constitution and stop this train wreck of a law that is the biggest job killer in this country. that is hurting people all across the country. mr. president, it is sad that today that the united states senate is telling people all across this country who are struggling, who are trying to provide for their kids and who are getting notifications in the mail, your healthcare has been dropped. now, maybe you have an elderly parent and that

healthcare policy is providing for your family. maybe you have -- >> -- republican senator john mccain joins us. well, senator, is this a deal are or a postponement? >> well, i hope it's a deal that we will learn the lesson that we learned back in 1995, the last time we went through this routine. you know, i was standing there watching senator cruz as you were, he says he is standing with the american people. the american people disapprove of republicans now by 74%, the highest ever since we have been taking any polls. the american people have been hurt to the tune of $40 billion while we went through and exercised that could not succeed. i am proud of the record of a lot of us for fighting obama care. we spent 25 days in 2009, up until christmas eve morning. i campaigned across this country for mitt romney and said elect mitt romney we will repeal and replace

obama care. you cannot change obama care until we have a republican president and republican majorities in both houses and that's a reality. and to tell american people that you can defund obama care was a fool's hand. i resent that because the damage that has been done not only to us as institutions but to the american people is just not acceptable. >> let me tell you something else though about this is that number one is that the reason we got to this is because, you know, the congress, which includes you and the president, took off august. you didn't do it. you knew september 30th is going to roll around. so the american people have a right to be unhappy with everybody. >> with the process, yes. including the president never sat down and negotiated with us. >> i'm not letting anybody off the hook. then now we have this new deal where it essentially just postpones it and puts the funding off until jab. puts the debt ceiling off until sometime in february. then you create this

committee that is supposed to do long term budgetary solutions. went through that through august 2011 super committee. why should the american people not be rolling their eyes at this one? >> they should be rolling their eyes because from a technical standpoint it kicks the can down the road from a reality standpoint, it's hard for me to believe since we were all damaged, just republicans damaged. democrats were damaged. the president was damaged that they realized this is not the way the american people will find acceptable. so, all i can say is that i am confident, after '95 we waited all these years before we tried this idiotic experiment again. and i hope it will be another 15 or 20 years, whatever it is before we do it again. >> well, senate took care of itself today. it didn't put the vitter amendment in it. i know i mean you can excise out the staff, but the senators make sure they get this government contribution. why did you all take care of yourself today. you know, that seems rather

convenient. >> it's convenient and again it contributes to the cynicism americans have. they want us to live like they do. and obviously that exemption exists. they added money for a dam that i frankly never even heard of. they stuck in some stuff which, of course, they couldn't have gotten through a regular legislative process. and that's disgraceful. >> i don't know how to do this one because it's so sensitive but senator lautenberg died and wife and widow and put a death gratuity in for her. i don't want to take away her loss or in any way want to hurt her. he had tens and tens like 40 or $50 million. yet you put in there to take care of her financially. i don't want to take anything away from her. i bet she wasn't asked. you all took care of your own again. >> well, all i can say is if i had written it, none of those things would have been in it. we really didn't find out these small, what they call anomalies until about two hours ago.

and that's a terrible way to do business, but the main thing here, greta, those are bad. that's bad. but what's really bad is what we did to so many americans disrupting their lives so terribly because we couldn't work together. we're down to a% approval. >> well, the reason that -- i mean you had senator ted cruz who i think that many of you think, have you certainly expressed your views about him. what i don't understand though is where was the leadership to sort of like in the military, if you have got some troops that are giving you problems, you are responsible as the leaders. where were the leaders in the senate if you thought that senator ted cruz was doing this horrible thing to create this problem? where was that? >> well, from the beginning we said this was a tool's errand and i said exactly how it was going to end up. it didn't take a genius to know that. i fought against it. but, look, in the military those people work for you. i work for the people of arizona. he works for the people of texas. he is entitled to his views. i respect those views. i disagree with them

strongly, but he has a right as a united states senator and he has obviously exercised it. what we need to do is come up, we republicans is come up with an agenda for america that is a positive agenda things we want done to get this country back on track and get off of this negative shutting down the government. >> is there any argument you can give me to make the american people feel this budgetary committee is going to be any more successful than simpson bottles bohls or the super committee. feel like this is a step forward? >> i can't but i'm very confident that we won't put the american people through this again because of the damage that it's done to us. one thing politicians crave is approval. what is our disapproval? all-time highs. higher than it's ever been in the gallup poll. higher than finance ever been in several polls. >> everyone just go home for christmas day and come back and work because january 15th is going to roll around pretty fast. >> well, i will come on and we will see who was right.

but, this is not a good time for congress or the president of the united states who did not engage the way that he should have and they wanted to win a victory and maybe they won but, in this town, what goes around. senator, nice to see you, you have got to go vote. thank you, sir. right now we are waiting on a senate vote on the fiscal deal. it could come at any minute. we are going to bring it to you as soon as it happens. coming up manchin and gohmert are here. we will ask each of them about this bruising political fight and whether this is really over. more breaking news from capitol hill is coming up.

politicians taking us up to the edge. will they beat the clock? right now we are waiting on a senate vote fiscal deal that could happen at any minute. joe manchin part of the bipartisan group helped come up with the framework for the deal. senator manchin joins us. good evening, sir. >> good evening, greta. >> is there anything that the democrats didn't get that you wanted in this deal? >> really what i think democrats and republicans really wanted was to go back to regular order, have the budget conference meet, and we have got that in there. susan collins has been great to work with and the entire republican delegates, there was seven of them. seven of us, working together as americans, not democrats, republicans. we started about 10 days ago and we saw everything falling apart, and we gave it to our respective leaders on last friday. nobody accepted. they all kind of rejected it. and, you know, and i'm thinking oh my goodness, where are they going? then by sunday we were the only game in town.

we were basically still the core of a nucleus of 14% of the senate, and we had a bipartisan. we stayed bipartisan and we grew as by tart san. >> here is what i don't get. what the bipartisan group did -- and i applaud you for being a bipartisan group and did it you postponed the funding the government has been extended until mid january and you have got the debt ceiling is not going to be a crisis until february 7th. and we have -- and the house and the senate is ordered to sit down and work on budget, right? >> right. >> vitter amendment is not in it couple of other things. but what i don't get is like, you know, how is that a deal for the american people? i mean, i don't get because you should have kept the government open. we shouldn't be up against the debt ceiling. we shouldn't be spending more than we have, and you have got the house and the senate don't know that they should sit down and work this stuff out? >> when you look at the whole thing, this is about the whole finances of our country. continuing resolution says you can't get a budget so basically we are telling. >> which is an insult to the way -- >> -- it truly is and has

been going on for four or five years. like saying in the family $1,500 this month that's all you can spend. until mom and dad gets a budget and we have an annual job we can't do anything more. >> that's fundamentally because no job was being done. i mean, we didn't have a budget. >> there is no one more frustrated than i am, greta. >> so you are new to this. >> you know what? and i'm ashamed and i apologize to it all my constituents in west virginia that this is not the way we do things back home. we just don't operate this way back home. and basically you sit down and work out a budget and live within your means. your priorities are based around your values. we can't be everything to everybody. but we can take care of our priorities. we can have a defense department that can defend us. but you just can't be everything to everybody. you have got to have a big deal. the bottles -- bowls simpson template was a good deal it? >> it was revenue. it was spending, and it was reform. and everybody knows those three things have to happen. but we are all afraid of it

because it might lose somebody a vote. i said why did you come? take a gut check on why you are here. if we can't do our job, maybe we ought to go home. i mean, this really is. and so, i get people back home say joe, you don't know how bad it looks. >> if you think it's ugly from your living room you ought to try it from my seat. it's really bad. but, i will say. this. the budget conferees are going to meet. it's not a super committee. this is their job. work it out. if you don't like the 967 sequester number, if you think it's too da draconian, then fix it. you know, greta, i thought this. the shutdown we had, the complete shutdown was totally unnecessary about our social agenda. what would the american people have said if they had a shut down based around i want you to have a vote by january on fixing the budget, on fixing the long-term finances of our country, on getting a balanced budget in 15 years.

they could have accepted that. >> what are we voters to do? i mean, like, you know, to -- the american people we can't get our politicians to fix it. i mean, and everyone, like everyone who runs for office says i can do it. well, you know what? you are not. i mean, it's not happening. >> this came back to the middle. we had 14 of us and basically started meeting and susan and myself and we had our colleagues both democrats and republicans equally split, and it basically come back to the middle. you are not going to run this country, and you are not going to run your household, and you are not going to run your business from the fringes, from the right or the left. but we have the tail wagging the dog, it's basically to the point where i respect all of my friends, whether it is on the far right or far left. on the end of the day we have got to be back in the middle to make things happen. >> democrats go far left of the democratic party and bring them on and the republicans. >> bring whoever will come. >> you have even got your leader, senator harry reid calling people anarchists and insulting people. how in the world do you expect people to work with

him senate majority leader the leader of the serial insulter. >> greta, i have said. this i have never made a friend by calling them a name. and i have never fixed anything by blaming something else. when i was governor, we used to bring people together. the bottom line is which is a profession that we understand is public service and it should be all about public service. and you have to understand the other person's perspective where they're coming from. you never put your adversary in a position that they don't have a little respect going home. you never do that because youner get them back. and everybody has a different style, i guess, and we all have to move forward. >> well, i hope that the bipartisan committee can help us out a little bit more. >> we are going to stay together. we are not going to disband. remember, we just all met afterwards. we are going to it stay together. this thing has to get done. december 15th is when we are supposed to, the budget committee is supposed to report back. we are going to stay on top of that and see where they're. we think we can get a grand bargain. we need one. >> senator, good luck and good luck to the committee. anybody who can solve this

for us. >> thanks greta for having me. >> coming up republican congressman louie gohmert is here. he doesn't like the deal he will tell you why as we follow the breaking news from capitol hill. but with a mortgage. and the furniture's a lot nicer. and suddenly, the most important person in my life is someone i haven't even met yet. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. as you plan your next step, we'll help you get there.

>> this is a fox news alert. you are looking live at the u.s. senate floor. and we are awaiting a vote on the senate deal to reopen the government and extend the debt ceiling. the vote is expected to happen at any second. the bill, of course, fund the government only through mid january and raise the debt ceiling through february 7th. now, as soon as the senate votes, the bill goes across the hill to the house. we're keeping a close eye on what's going on on capitol hill. we will bring you the latest news as it happens and he we are back in two minutes. you won't miss anything so stay right here. for seeing your business in a whole new way. for seeing what cash is coming in and going out...

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>> this is a fox news alert, we are awaiting the senate vote on a deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling. we're going to bring it to you as soon as it happens. but right now republican congressman louie gohmert joins us. nice to see you sir. >> good to see you, greta. >> you will be investigating on the house side later tonight yes or no will you be voting? >> i will will be voting no. >> how many nos will you have along with you. >> i don't know. it was not whipped when we left conference, so i really don't know. it doesn't take that many. you know, 218 -- actually 217 because we are missing three members. so, but then again yesterday morning, we were called in for a conference. we were told here's what we are voting on. we hadn't whipped it. and then later they find out wow, we got too many nos. but, if the democrats all vote for the deal, as i would expect most of them to do, then it would. >> why are you opposed, the

government shutdown and he we're running up against the debt ceiling and you pretty much have a government really gets shut down. at 1:00 a.m. we passed a bill that said okay, okay. we capitulate, here is our conferees, all you have to do harry reid and then we have something worked out. he didn't want it because he knew the mainstream media would back them. blame it on republicans. we were offering bills and all they would ever say is no, no, no.

that's not working on an agreement. they did it for political reasons. >> well, congressman, i know you have to go. votes on the house side shortly. thank you for joining us. you will be roght soon. more breaking news coverage from capitol hill to the white house next. her valuable assets were staying. and selling her car wouldn't fly. we helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today... and tomorrow. so let's see what we can do about that... remodel. motorcycle. [ female announcer ] some questions take more than a bank. they take a banker. make a my financial priorities appointment today. because when people talk, great things happen. make a my financial priorities appointment today. customer erin swenson ordebut they didn't fit.line customer's not happy, i'm not happy. sales go down, i'm not happy. merch comes back, i'm not happy. use ups. they make returns easy. unhappy customer becomes happy customer. then, repeat customer. easy returns, i'm happy. repeat customers, i'm happy.

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>> this is a fox news alert. senate vote on a debt deal any second now. the white house is waiting on both houses of congress. will the bill make it to the president's house tonight before the debt ceiling deadline? for the very latest chief white house correspondent ed henry. ed, i take it the president is ready to sign it if it shows up? >> greta, he is ready to sign it. they have been saying for days now that he wants to get this passed the congress, passed him and passed the country and move on, quite frankly. they are trying to say it's a gloat-free zone. they say they are not celebrating. they say there were no winners in this because they think there was economic pain attached to the government shutdown and just the uncertainty brought by just the possibility of default. but, let's make no mistake.

the president got a lot of what he wanted in this deal. not everything. he certainly wanted a longer extension of the debt ceiling, well beyond february so that we wouldn't have to have this battle again in a few months. he certainly wanted to get the government back open well past january. but, none the less, he is getting it open. he is getting the debt ceiling extended with very few strings attached. that's frustrating republicans. in fact, senator lindsey graham who is frequently on your show sent out a tweet a time ago we as republicans left a lot on the table biggest understatements in political history. frustration on the republican side tonight that they didn't get almost anything that they wanted but i think what they are hoping on their side is that commodities, when they have these broader budget talks that are supposed to expire by december 15th that they are going to be able to make changes to the president's healthcare law. maybe changes like delaying that medical device tax, for example, greta. >> but, ed, that budgetary discussion outside the bill as i understand it and

really the only thing that's in the bill or the meat of the bill is simply that they all got a postponement. they postponed everything for a later date. there is not -- i mean, i don't know how anyone could celebrate because nothing was done except postponement. >> that's literally what has become the norm now, unfortunately for both sides, which is you will remember back in 2011 we had a similar situation and then what do they do? they created the super committee which then at that time was viewed at punting. >> let me stop you for one second. got to go to bret baier here in washington. bret? >> hey, greta, this vote now is starting on the senate floor as you can take a live look there. the senate floor just starting the cloture vote. they need 60 votes to pass. this let's take a listen in to the logistics here. >> nevada, durbin, murray, boxer, leahy, white house, stab now, bennett, rockefeller, tester, reid of rhode island. warner, cane, cardin,

schumer and coons. >> series of votes here. two votes, actually. >> by unanimous consent mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is: is it the sense of the senate to debate hr 2775 as amended should be brought to it a close in the a.s -- a.s and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the role. >> mr. alexander aye. >> ms. ayacht. >> aye. >> ms. baldwin. >> aye. >> mr. ba was so -- barraso. >> aye. >> aye. >> there is senator investor

-- saying aye. this is probably going to go down with a lot of aye votes. we will see how this all lines up. two votes relate to the debt ceiling compromise. first one cloture vote. 60 votes to get over this threshold on the bill. and then the second vote is a final vote on the bill itself. it needs a simple majority. so, in just a matter of moments, we'll get the total vote and you can see the senators as they do for all these votes, gathering in the well of the senate, the senate chamber and they will just say voice vote their vote aye or nay. >> of course. the real action is going to come when we pretty much know what's going to happen here. we expect that the senate is going to pass this. we're probably go to see a few no, sir. the real action is what happens when it goes over to the house of representatives. we usually have a pretty good idea of whether it's going to pass or not. we suspect it is but this has not been what they call whipped so we don't have a head count. it's expected that it will

pass. i don't know, for the life of me, i can't figure out why anybody thinks that this is a great accomplishment for either side of the aisle. the house, the senate, the republicans or democrats. it's like the old days when i used to try cases and i had a guilty client they would bring the jury in as soon as the jury came new asked for a continuance, the judge gave it to you and had you a trial some time later. you postponed the horrible stuff because you are not making the tough decisions now. >> you are right, greta. it's fair to say it's kicking the can. at least kicking the can to january 15th and february 7th. the continuing resolution and the debt ceiling increase and it's also kicking the can to this budget conference where the house and senate come together with their two different budgets and try to get together and move forward with a budget that takes the funding through the next year this won't be a surprise. >> bret, why should anybody feel comfortable, as much as we want this budget conference to work, we have, you know, if you look for evidence to feel satisfied, it is. if you look back in history, we had simpson bottles and

and -- bowls. why should people think tonight this is magical this is suddenly going to be the great answer that members of congress are going to do their work and sit down and work something out when the history actually suggests something very different. i think this is a hard sell to the american people that this is some great thing that has happened that we're moving forward on solving our problems. you know, i don't know how that sell that to us. >> i think that's why you are not seeing a lot of public celebrating privately democrats in the white house saying that this is a political win for the president. it is interesting to know that the white house has said that it plans to see the president to come out after this senate vote, after the final senate vote before the house votes. that is significant. in that it won't be a done deal until obviously the house finishes. and the question is, it's not going to fall, we don't think, in the house. we think with democratic votes and the few republicans who will vote for it that it should pass

in big numbers in the house as well. but, still to hear the president before or in between is pretty interesting. >> what's the president even going to say? i mean, look, the last six or seven days they have all come out of the meetings at the white house and on capitol hill and say they have been very productive. we have heard how productive. everybody is talking how great it is. if everybody is talking how come we merely got a postponement and a committee that frankly we have had before that twice failed? it's hard to sort of wonder how are those meetings so productive? all it did was create this postponement which gives cover for everybody for not doing the fundamental job of solving this economic whos of our country whether it's to lift the debt ceiling or not. fund the government or not. so, it's -- what is the president going to say? come out and say this is a great day? >> well, is he going to say it's a great day for furloughed workers, i'm sure. he is going to say it's a good thing to get the government back open and great thing to have a breath for wall street about this debt ceiling limit that the treasury secretary said would eventually lead to

default. people push back on that whole thing on whether the government could pay its bills as the tax receipts were coming. in you are right. you are exactly right. there are a lot of people who think like you and think this is not a great deal and this is just kicking the can. >> you know, bret, i would rather have these leaders come out tonight and say, you know, that's terrible that the government was shut down. it's terrible what happened to the furloughed workers and, you know what? i'm sorry. i'm sorry i didn't do my job that we didn't do our job. and, you know what else? commodities, if we haven't done our job, if we have -- if the budget committee hasn't been successful, we're not going to take two wix at christmas since we had that january 15th deadline, we're just going to take one day home with our family. we are going to actually do our work. set some sort of example. they are not setting much of an example. all they are doing the rest of us don't get postponements in our job day in and day out. the interesting thing is that they create their own postponement. they create the problem and they get to postpone it. >> you are right. and, listen, this deals with a very small portion of the

big picture, which is $17 trillion in debt. the deficits that are projected in both house republican budgets and senate democratic budgets for years to come. and the entitlement reform questions about the future viability of the social security and medicare and how obama care factors into all of that. i think you are right in the big picture, this is not a huge deal. but, in this moment, getting the government back open and seeing the debt ceiling increase, the white house would characterize as a win. well, and the interesting thing is people wonder whether or not this will have impact on the 2014 election. republicans have taken a bigger hit in the polls on this than the democrats and the president. all they they have taken bad hits too. if you think about it, we will have the same discussion, we had it back in august of 2011. we will have the same discussion probably the night of january 14th and probably the night of february 6th. and it will be those nights that will seem to define the 2014. people may have forgotten what we are going through right now.

not those who were furloughed and have tough times meeting bills. the rest of america probably won't remember. this. >> you are probably right. and, you know, a lot of people we talked to around the country are just sick of fiscal cliff to fiscal cliff, frankly. and that falls to both parties. a lot of blame, according to the polls, goes to republicans. but, as you have seen over this whole deal, it has hit both parties pretty hard in all. as you are taking a look at the senate floor live here, they are coming to the end of the list of votes. try to get a tally but they don't put it up until the very end there, greta but we don't expect this to be anywhere close to 60. it should pass overwhelmingly. >> if i have to find some sort of silver laning, let me just say this, is that i mean this is our democracy. this is how we settle disputes. even if it's pretty ugly and dirty and a lot of dissatisfaction. a lot of nations around the world don't solve these debates this way. so at least we are sort of

at each other's throats with words and not otherwise. as we look at them voting. at least, you know, that's the good part of about democracy. that's how we settle our disputes even if it's messy and not particularly satisfactory in getting actual solutions. but, it is sort of fun to watch democracy. >> yeah. hey, let me just explain a couple of things people have asked about. how is this budget bill starting in the senate? a lot of people question that because article one section 7 of the constitution says all revenue measures have to start in the house of representatives. well, what has happened is that the vehicle they are using is actually a house bill. and it is a bill by the crafted by representative diane black of tennessee. that's the income verification bill that is part of this overall deal. income verification for obama care, anyone who gets subsidies. so they have taken this bill, on income verification. they have essentially hollowed it out and inserted in this bipartisan deal and

they will then, that's what they are voting on right now. they will get over cloture. they will then vote on the final bill, and then they will send that house bill, basically, with the deal back to the house to be voted on and that's how it passes muster with the essentially starting in the house. you know what i think has been a little bit debilitating to the process is the level of acrimony expressed by both -- by the senators and by members of congress and in particular senate majority leader harry reid. senator harry reid has been insulting to speaker boehner. he has called the tea parties anarchists. and it makes it very difficult to try to negotiate, to try to work on a solution when you are constantly being insulted like that. i think that was very, you know, it really made the process so much more difficult. it would have been better if he sort of emerged as a leader and rose above it instead of doing that mudslinging. in his particular role.

because he is the senate majority leader. i actually think he has made this process more difficult than we should have had. >> yeah. i think there are a lot of people who feel like you feel. i will say that minority leader nancy pelosi called the senate majority leader's working on this issue masterful, saying that he held all parties together on the drank side, and was really the force behind the no negotiation from the beginning while he was saying, as you were saying, on the senate floor about, you know, the arsonists and the kidnappers and suicide bomb wearing, threatening the full faith and credit of the united states as he saiden othe senate floor. but, you noticed his tone changed dramatically over the past couple of days in that he was working with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell and came up with this deal and the tone on the floor was a lot

different as he was trying to kabul together that bipartisan vote. >> except at that point who bought it? during the other disputes, i do not remember president clinton or speaker gingrich or anyone else like, you know, bringing it to the level where it was almost a mud fight and that makes it difficult to work something out later. he may have changed his tone in the last day or so, but i think that the damage was largely done in terms of making it more difficult for him to actually lead and to resolve things. our colleague dana perino has joined us. dana, your thoughts as we watch the senate floor. >> well, i think there are many people who predicted this outcome. it was an interesting exercise to have to to through. i would say it was an exercise in futility. there was a questionier of this bill that they had to make two plus two equal four. i would also say zero times zero equals zero. that's what the republicans got out of it. politically i think they even did some back sliding. some interesting things for the republicans. i do think that keeping the

sequester in is a gadd thing. i don't like it that the government has to go through this again in december. but if that's going to be the case, and the republicans hopefully have learned from the last two weeks and can start working like a team, like the democrats had this week their discipline has been very interesting to watch and definitely worked in president obama's favor. >> and i guess what we should explain is that the sequester is outside this agreement. that's the automatic cuts that kick n january. something that the democrats wanted to take out of it. so i guess to that extend the republicans won, i hate to use that word that point. still have the the issue of sequester an the cuts in january unless the month earlier the conference of the house and the senate working on the budgetwork out something else. is that your understanding? >> that's exactly what i have understood. and i think that conference will be very interesting. the democrats will feel emboldened from the past two weeks and they don't want to go into a budget discussion because they want to decrease government spending. they want to increase government spending. so the parties are going to

be very far apart and the republicans i think, will be strengthened from this past two weeks and will hopefully be able to regroup and move on and be smarter in their strategic decision-making going forward. you know, you say that the democrats will feel emboldened, i would hope that the republicans and the democrats feel chastened, that they haven't done their jobs, you know that there shouldn't be any sort of, you know, spiking the ball or anything else that they should all be embarrassed that when we have come to this that they have hurt americans by the furloughs, hurt americans by closing monuments and everything else and contractors. they have hurt people. they should be embarrassed and hustling as fast as they cannot feel emboldened but determined to work together and get a solution. if they are feeling emboldened shame on them. everyone, republicans and democrats should have a very different view going into these discussions. >> greta, that's why you are not in congress. that's not how they think about it. i guarantee you that tonight the democrats behind closed doors because the word came

down from the president no dancing in the end zone guys. we'll see if they hold to that. but, politically, i think that they have got to feel like they are a step ahead of the republicans. that's why you saw president obama say yesterday in tv interviews that he going to start pressing immigration immediately, not the economy, not jobs. you will see him push to something that his base desperately wants and further split the republicans for a bill that they really have to grapple with going into not just the next election but really how do they want to shape an immigration bill if they're going to let one pass the all in the next year. >> it's interesting that when you have this collective group they all ability like that i talked to senator man chin and talked to him during the break, he feels deeply about this. he feels about the feel in west virginia. he cares about a solution. he talked to a lot of the members of the senate and the house. when he talked to them alone, they know the pain. they see the stuff in the constituents and they

really, really, you know, they really want to help their people back home. they don't want to put them through. this they're not enjoying it. it's striking i actually sort of, i once again lean on the leaders and say, you know, lead. that's why i'm so hard on senator harry reid. you know, quit throwing the insults around because his members, the senate, you know, republicans and democrats they actually whether they agree or not, many of them have come to the senate to do something to help. >> the tone of incivility definitely comes from the top. the majority leader i think is one of the most poisonous speakers in washington, d.c. at the moment. but joe manchin, senator manchin of west virginia is a very different type of legislature, and from a very different state. than somebody like chuck schumer who recently i think just in the last couple of hours said -- how we want to do business. >> let me interrupt you for one second. bret baier has got some news. bret? >> hey, greta. the voting is still continuing, just wrapping up but they have cleared the 60

vote threshold for closure in the senate. this bill now goes on to a final passage which only requires 50 votes. i just note that voting no senators vitter, cruz, rashts, johnson of wisconsin, senator lee from utah. tomb me from pennsylvania and senator paul so far voting no. the rest voting yes as the voting is wrapping up here. i think we can take a final vote and listen to the whole floor. mr. coons, aye. >> you can see the senators in the well, they are calling senators who didn't vote the first time around but the news here, greta, is that they have passed the 60 vote threshold. this was the vote that really mattered because they will definitely have the simple majority in just a

matter of minutes in the second go around. 51 votes and gets quickly hustled over to the other side of the hill for the house to consider. and any new information there about what those numbers are like, bret? >> no. other than the speaker has promised to put it on the floor and it will pass with huge democratic votes. the question really is whether he has a majority of his own majority to pass this the president possibly speaking between this vote and the house vote is interesting, politically, and how that plays for the house vote a little bit later. could be interesting to watch. >> bret, thank you. the next vote is about to get underway. we are going to take a very quick break. we'll be right back. do not go away.

>> this is a fox news alert. and you are looking live at the u.s. senate floor. the vote is going on right now. they passed the 60 vote cloture a few minutes ago. now we are on to the second vote which requires only a simple majority, so we do expect that this will pass, that the so-called plan, which will extend government funding through january 15th and the test ceiling through february 7th will pass the -- pass the senate and go over to the house of representatives. bret, are you there? bret baier? >> yeah, right here, greta. >> good. speaker boehner, how is he doing tonight? >> well, you know, he didn't give any interviews other than a radio interview in ohio. in which he said is he doing fine. and that he says he fought the good fight. and didn't win. you know, you get a sense from other republicans over there that he still has a lot of respect in that caucus. and for all the talk, in all the different media outlets

that he is in trouble and that speaker boehner is not going to make it. there is not a sense in that caucus that it sits that way. and that i listened to them. he gave them the chance to vote. and there is not a sense that there is a real push to get rid of speaker boehner on -- even on the most conservative side of the house. >> i once spoke to him after one of our interviews that we did with speaker boehner. i asked him how his job was. he said something to it me to the effect like it's having a wheelbarrow with 230 frogs in it and move the wheelbarrow from point a to point b without any of the frogs jumping out and hard to do. you get the idea that the speaker of the house has got a huge group of people to try to keep, to corral. it's an extraordinarily difficult job. but, likewise,. >> representative tom price said today that he is herding cats is basically another analogy. but as we look at the senate

floor, is he herding cats. he has got a lot of different parts, speaker boehner does of the house republican caucus and has to listen to how many people are in this group or that group. and has managed actually, for all the negative reporting about it, to juggle it pretty well. in the big picture. and, there are a will the of people tonight, who are saying i don't think is he in trouble, even though this didn't go as republicans had hoped. >> any idea why the president. >> hold on one second. >> duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to. under the previous order,. [gavel] under the previous order, cloture having been the vote, all time is yielded back, the clerk will read the title of the bill for the third time. >> just wanted to get that in there. so i guess we haven't had the second vote yet.

83-16 on the first one. >> what is your thought? why is the president supposedly going to speak after the senate vote and not after the house vote or i assume he is going to sign it? >> i think that's a great question. it may come down to he doesn't want to wait around for the house until it's done. and expects speed to the house to his signature. he definitely wants to appear to be a are the path the morning news coverage about this day. and/or it may be a part of politics. and, you know, stepping in, even before the house votes to say, you know, this was a good thing. it's pretty unique. >> or maybe even he is worried there might be a few who are sort of on the fringe voting and he might want to get out ahead of it before the house votes, maybe to sort of send the word, you know. that, you know, you better vote on this one.

maybe it's also a message. i find that hard to believe. i think it's interesting. >> the other thing is, greta, is that you have some conservatives who clearly are not happy voting for this. some of them will definitely vote against it. and some of them, speaker boehner probably recruited to vote for it and they don't want to. it makes that vote perhaps a little tougher if the president is out touting this as a win in between the votes. and it may make it harder. >> you know, it's sort of interesting is that all of the members of the senate who are voting right now is as they -- as each one votes, each one runs the risk that that vote is going to be a part of a political ad the next time the election cycle runs around for that particular person. these votes are always, you know, carved out and used against people. >> sure. >> this is sort of, you know, it's sort of distracting, sort of, you know, there is a whole another parameter to this.

>> yeah. freedom works, a conservative organization, has come out and said a vote for this piece of legislation would be a mark against their conservative record. so, you know, you have some of these members from very conservative districts that they look to those organizations like heritage action and freedom works and say i don't want them against me. so these votes become difficult. >> see heritage action is the reason last night we understand the house didn't have a vote because late in the game yesterday is they started circulating information you better not vote for. this so the house vote we expected last night got aborted. >> i just want to point out, greta, that the senate, here is the final senators voting no. vitter, toomey, shelby, sessions, rubio, roberts, reesh, paul, lee, johnson of wisconsin, heller, grassley, enzi, cruz, crapo and cornyn. 16 senators voting no in cloture vote and now it will head over to the house soon

after this final hurdle was passed over in the senate which will be reached in a matter of minutes. >> and we're going to say goodbye to bret. bret has got a special tonight i understand if this continues live coverage. want to stay with bret. but just to recap what you are looking at. the u.s. senate in the final moments of this vote, which is the deal that, plan, however you want to look at it postponement until january 15th funding the government and february 7th to raise that debt ceiling. as soon as this vote is completed, we expect to hear from the president of the united states. and of after the president, we expect that he wool be switching over to the house of representatives where the vote begins there in earnest and, of course, that is one to watch because there are lots of questions there as to who is going to vote, how and when. we really do expect that this will pass. but a lot of people are holding their noses and voting for it because it really doesn't solve any problems. it really merely postpones it, giving the house and the senate budget committees a chance to reconcile their budget and perhaps solve --

work out some problems. thanks for being with us. we will see you again tomorrow night. 7:00 p.m. right now. live fox coverage continues now with bill o'reilly. the o'reilly factor is on. tonight. >> we fought the good fight. we just didn't win. >> looks like a deal. walks like a deal. but is it really a deal? we'll have the latest on congress trying to reopen the government. >> when we wobble, the whole thing starts to wobble. >> if there is one man in the country who does not like washington, it is this man. dennis miller. tonight, the d-man will comment on congress, biden, and the terrorists bill ayers. ♪ all my life ♪ i never knew what i could be ♪ what i could do ♪ then we were new. also coming up, yes, sir, paul mccartney has a new album coming out. will the